hey guys, does anyone know of a good carbon fiber substitute that I can use to prototype my 18th scale brushless & lipo 12th scale? I've been thinking fiberglass...

smojoe, you can try using the circuit-board material, just tear off the folium. That would be the cheapest way ;)

g-10 fiberglass sheet, you can get it at www.mcmaster.com

here are a couple of newb questions for you guys. (that you have probably been asked a million times... but this thread is huge, and i dont have the time to read all of it :P )

I've just recently acquired a tyre lathe. and i'm wondering what kind of tyre diameters you tru your tyres down to for your 12ths? (outdoor)

I've trued a pair of my rears to 43MM, and my fronts to 42MM. i've set it to 3.4MM ride height. Is that about right?

If it matters, the track i'll be running it on is low to medium bite. and isn't bumpy

Any pointers would be awesome :)

I live in syracuse NY, wow, well anyways i just got a L3 and i have a dumb quesion i guess, with that kit, theres a white rod that sticks up so you can rap the antenna around it but i broke most of it off cause i want to just use a tube so i can put the antenna in the middle of it, the reason i took almost all of it off is cause it wont pull out, does it perminatly in there or how the hell can i slide it out??

Those diameters are pretty small for low bite asphalt, good for carpet because the small tire will free the car up. You will usually be looking for more side bite on asphalt which a larger tire will give you. We usually run tires in the 46mm range for the rears and 44mm in the front. For very low bite it seems to help to use a bigger spread in the diameter from rear to front, like 47mm rear 43-44 mm front. Higher ride height will also enhance traction to a degree, I never run lower than 4mm unless the bite is high and the track is smooth :cool:

You should be able to knock it out from the bottom with a punch.

BUT...The white rod is called a "roll over" and is used on 1/12th cars to right them after tumbling. I'm sure you think that the flexible tube from a touring car is a good way to go, but you will change your mind when your car is stuck on its lid and everyone else is passing you :nod:

great thanks for the help odpurple.

P.S love your wiring jobs! you're an inspiration to many! :nod: :blush:

Thanks for the compliment :)

One thing I forgot to mention about tires and asphalt: Experiment! different aggregates have different bite characteristics so sometimes the "normal" compounds/diameters/sauces don't work. How the surfaces are sealed or not, how porous it is and what is sprayed onto it can make a big difference. We've even run into situations where the best tire to use is good old greens (thankfully not often) :cool:

Amen to that OD. I stopped by the Florida state race today at K raceway down here and talk about strange traction. The TC's had no problem but the 1/12th cars were. Everyone still ran the same compounds but the cars didnt seem to be "in the track". They had that strange,sandy sound in the corners. It didnt matter which style of car either. Really strange. That track is friggin huge and your car carries some speed so the steering or lack there of became an issue. I could swear that you could get away with pink fronts:lol:

At the IFMAR World's on that track guys were running the additional gurney flaps on thier Speed 12's for more traction. There were cutting the ribs out of thier rims for more rim flex an the fastest guys were running Yokomo foam that no one had access to except for Masami and some of team AE.

Thats was with an extreme coat of sugar water and still no traction.

I think all the rain we have has lately has washed off all the good traction the nitro cars normally lay down (foam and castor oil).

Hello,
I have a question on mounting the servo. It seems 50/50 on how people mount them. I think I want to mount mine flat. My question is how are you guys doing that? I can’t seem to find a mount made to do that. This is for a 12l4.

Thanks
Mark

I use double sided tape, If you mount your servo flat i think you chance the ackerman...

it's pretty hard to beat the basic plastic/graphite servo mounts that AE supplies with the 12L kits. they are super inexpensive (like about $2 a pair), they are light, they are durable, and they stay put. for putting the servo on an angle, you can set the servo at whatever height you want and drill your own mounting holes (only one on each side is necessary). And if you want the servo flat, just turn the same plastic mounts around backwards so the straight side faces the front of the car and the angled side is towards the back, and once again drill your own holes at whatever height you desire the servo to be. the top of the plastic mounts will stick up some, but they are easily cut off with a dremel cutting disc so they are flush with the top of the servo (so they look better and to save every last gram of unnecessary weight). Once again, the AE kit mounts work great for most any application, flat or angled and you just can't beat the price.

Do you have a part number?
Thanks